Lake Kivu, Rwanda, some of the poorest and happiest children in the world.

There’s one thing that is on my mind a lot at the moment. I’m reluctant to write about it because it’s political and it’s controversial and I usually try to avoid those topics. But this is one I think I have to talk about. I can’t get my head around how it’s happening and how we don’t seem to have anything in place to stop it. It plays on my mind and I just can’t stop thinking about it and then I think that to do nothing and say nothing is the same as condoning what is happening.

We hear it all the time ‘Stop the boats’ ‘Illegals’ ‘Queue jumpers’. And a whole lot of other derogatory terms. And somehow, that language seeps into the vocabulary and thinking of people. What are we really talking about? Desperate…

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I come from a long line of “feeders”. Come to my house and I will feed you. Feeling down? Let me feed you. Having a baby? Let me feed you! A bit bored? Pick me! I will feed you!

Sometimes though my need to feed turns into cooking a heck of alot of food and then searching for someone to feed. Doesn’t always work. Turns out most of our friends can feed themselves…

Yesterday I cooked two chickens and enough potato bake to feed a football team. Why two chickens? Because one looked so lonely in the slow cooker. And why the massive potato bake? I had a litre of cream that was in need of using up before turning to sour cream. I was hopeful that Possum would eat some chicken as it’s the only meat she’s eating at the moment. And I figured she should love potato bake, I mean, who doesn’t? Turns out she hardly ate any chicken. But she did eat a piece of carrot and a piece of potato out of the potato bake! Woo! Small wins for this fussy little fuss pot. Serve her the same thing today though and wouldn’t touch it. Go figure.

The potato bake is a stupidly easy and delicious combination. The recipe is thanks to one of my mothers group lovely mummies, thankyou Kirsty!! To make it simply combine 4 potatoes, a sweet potato and an onion chopped with some dried mixed herbs, 1 litre of cream and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Chuck it all in the oven for 1 hour. Put some grated cheese on top and then back in the oven for another 30 minutes. Voila!

The chickens were also crazy easy. But it did involve skinning them….. ewww. I nearly dropped some chicken skin on Possum’s head. Mega ewwwww. To make the chicken simply place a large chook or two small ones in the slow cooker. Mix together some garlic, ginger, soy sauce, BBQ sauce, worstechire sauce, apple sider vinegar and honey. Pour over the chooks and then cook on low for 6 hours. When they are done the whole bird will literally fall apart. I tried lifting them out with tongs only to be left holding a single bone.

Slow Cooked Chicken and Potato Bake

Affordability : Moderate. Two small free range chooks cost me about $15. The cream was the other semi costly item. But the number of serves you get is hefty!

Time Factor : MODERATE. Took a few minutes to skin the chooks (shudder…) but once everything and prepped then it’s just a matter of time to wait til it’s all done.

Complexity : LOW. Super easy.

Deliciousness : MODERATE. Good simple comfort food for winter. The chicken is tasty but nothing amazing. The potato bake on the other hand is mmm mmm mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Mess : LOW. Just your slow cooker and a bit pot for the bake. We also microwaved a few green veg to have on the side too.

Possum Friendly? YES. Lovely soft meat which is easy for bubs to chew, plus the bonus of leg bones to gnaw on. The potato bake has easy to hold pieces and you can picke and choose which veg to throw in. I added a carrot and a parsnip.

Would I make it again? Potato bake, certainly. The chicken, will probably not cook a whole chook in the cooker in a hurry. Legoman wasn’t too keen about picking out all the tiny bones.